We are in level one from midnight this evening.

Smart move by the PM both economically and politically here. With zero cases in the country now there was no reasons to remain in level 1, and while she and Grant Robertson hinted last week that they were going to try to keep us in level 2 until Wednesday, that would’ve been impossible to justify.

I mean what would we need that extra 48 hours for? It’s not as if businesses need to prepare for a move to level 1 right? That is very much a return to normal business.

For businesses I am relieved. This will mean so much to them. It means the middle seat can be filled, it means bars can stop turning people away, it means restaurants can put all their tables back in.

The question is now are you still too scared to go out? Because a lot of people are still expressing real reservations about getting on planes, going to crowded bars, going to concerts.

Which brings us to the two things I think the PM could’ve said today.

The first one is that it’s now safe to go out. As I said, people are still scared. Plenty of people in this country seem to have delegated their critical thinking to the government.

If the government says be scared, they’re scared. If the government says dob people in, they dob people in. If the government says tens of thousands were going to die, then tens of thousands were going to die.

Now it seems ridiculous, but those people need the Prime Minister to come out and say it’s safe, go out, and that wasn’t there.

The second thing I wanted was to hear the PM really tell government agencies and corporates to send their staff back to work from tomorrow. Now, I know the PM sort of addressed it with a gentle request of corporates and a pledge that public sector workers will be told to go back to work taking into account flexible working arrangements, but that is not strong enough.

Flexible working is now a thing in the public sector post-Covid, which mean lots of public sector staff working from home. People were ordered out of the office, people need to be ordered back into the office, because the impact that this is having on the hearts of our cities is devastating.

I read of one café owner only operating at about 17 per cent at the moment. That’s not sustainable. If this government really wants to save jobs, that will go a long way. But, of course, for now it’s credit to them for moving us into level 1 ASAP today.